Valentine Heart Resist Art- Great for Gifting and Baby Friendly
I don’t know about you, but every year I struggle to come up with a gift the kids can give their grandparents for Valentine’s Day. If you are looking for the perfect gift for grandparents (or yourself), you can stop your search! This Heart Resist Art is easy and will be adorable, even if you think you aren’t crafty or your child doesn’t know how to “paint”.
You can make cards or a canvas to gift. You or your child can select the colors and customize this however you want! You are going to love this.
The best part about this activity is you can make it look excellent without much effort. My 1 year old made a great looking card in about 2 minutes, so I feel confident that you can pull this one off.
Here’s What You Need
Paint. I only use washable paint with little ones or if there is a chance for paint to get on our hands. I’ve linked my favorite one- the colors are magnificent and so vibrant.
Painter’s tape. We use this so often for crafting or activities, so I buy a jumbo 6 pack. I love having this on hand.
Blank cards or a canvas if you are making art to hang on the wall
Trash bag, paper bag, plastic bag, or towel to work on
Scissors or a heart shaped paper punch (this set has good reviews and you might like a variety of sizes)
Set up
2-5 minutes
Set up your trash bag and tape the card down. The card should be open with the outside facing up- this will be the part you decorate. Taping it down ensures it stays in one place and makes it easier for children and toddlers to paint.
Cut out your hearts from painter’s tape. I had to overlap a few strips first to make it wide enough for my hearts. I’ve done this with scissors and with the paper punch and I’ll discuss this more below. Depending on the age of your children, you could have them help with this step. I was solo with a 1 year old, so I set up everything while she was occupied.
Place your hearts on the card. I did this step, but again, older kids could help here.
Pour the paint onto your palette and get to it!
Clean Up
1-2 minutes
Remove the smock and wash your child.
Wash off the palette and throw away your paper bag working area.
Let the card dry and remove the painter’s tape. I always take my tape off when the paint is still a little wet to avoid taking the paint off as well, but that is a little challenging and I usually end up with some paint smudges on my hands.
If you can’t tell from the photo above, I decided to save time and just cut my hearts freestyle. Are they symmetrical? No. Do they get the point across and still make for a great project? Yes!
The photo below is actually from a project I did 5 years ago when Brinley was only 8 months old. I made multiple canvases and gifted them to grandparents and kept one for myself. I used a heart punch to make the hearts a tad neater because I knew the art would get hung up. If you want your hearts to be perfect, use the punch directly on the painter’s tape but know that it will take you more time and effort, especially if your painter’s tape is high quality and sticky. You can also punch out paper heart templates and trace onto the tape, draw a heart by hand, or just cut free hand.
If you want the back of your card to stay clean, then cover it with painter’s tape. I forgot, so we ended up with a half painted back of the card. Let’s call it endearing.
Messy play and activities can be new or confusing for babies. Ellette normally doesn’t mind being messy, but is still working on being ok with getting paint on her hands. She was hesitant and needed some encouragement to participate. I used phrases such as:
“touch the hearts”
“pat pat pat”
“wipe wipe”
“rub the paper”
“smash smash”
She still was very unsure, so we pivoted and started painting with her feet! This was a hit and the card turned out great! Apparently, I forgot to take pictures of this part, so you are stuck with a still from a video I have.
I remember Brinley needing to use her feet for the canvas with red paint and you can even see her toe smears. We hang up that canvas in February every year and it makes me laugh to see her little toe prints. So top tip if your child doesn’t like to get their hands messy, use the feet. You can even do this with a baby who keeps their hands closed in fists all the time still!
Once Ellette saw how fun this project was, she was all in! She started using her hands and got a great sensory experience out of this activity.
Normally I would use a smock with paint, but Ellette is still a little too short and I didn’t want it in the way of her seeing the card. I know our paints wash out well, so I wasn’t worried if they got on her clothes. You can clearly see paint on the floor in some of the pictures, but it comes off in 1-2 swipes of a damp paper towel.
My other tip is to have a change of clothes ready to go after you get everyone cleaned up. I had a pile of clean clothes and a towel waiting for us after I rinsed off her hands…and feet…in the sink.
After everything is dry and you take off the tape, fold the card and add a message to the outside and/or the inside. You can make one card or 10 cards in a relatively short period of time. They are so cute, plus I know whoever receives a card from your child will treasure it.
If you haven’t read my post on The 14 Days of Love, give it a read. One of the ideas I mention in that post is a crafting day with the kids. This would be a perfect way to spend time together, spread love, and create a piece of art for your home.
Now you know how to make a super cute, and easy, Valentine’s craft with even the littlest sweetheart. I would love to see pictures of the artwork you create together, so drop a photo below or tag me on social!
Happy painting!
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Grab the free download to get started with matching and counting activities for the kids. And of course we are using hearts to stick to a Valentine’s Day theme!